Professional prestige, status, and esteem of teaching in kazakhstan: Temporal, regional and gender analysis of payroll data

Abstract

Since gaining independence after the dissolution of the USSR, the education system in Kazakhstan has undergone significant reforms. The retention of highly qualified teachers is crucial for the successful progress of the education sphere. However, employing the majority of the workforce (26.5%, almost one million people), education is one of the lowest paying sectors. Low pay causes a lack of popularity of the teaching profession among youth; results in an aging and highly feminized workforce; and harms prestige, status and esteem of teachers, thus intensifying turnover and making retention of qualified teachers difficult. This study proposes the use of three-tiered temporal, regional, and gender payroll data to analyze the prestige, status, and esteem of the teaching profession in Kazakhstan. It argues that although improving a social package is important, fundamental reforms of the education payment system could be the most effective measure to improve the prestige and status of teachers.